HOCKEY - Girls set for grudge match

Top first-up performances by Old Girls and Whangarei Girls' High School have set up an exciting match for round two of Whangarei women's premiere hockey.
A "thrashing" of Hikurangi had Old Girls' Tarannah Vette smiling, but the next challenge for the team will be keeping up consistency.
MoreFM Old Girls won 8-1 in the first round of the competition on Saturday, which was an unexpectedly good score for the team. Julie Crum scored a hat-trick for Old Girls.
"Yeah, it was a thrashing," Vette said. "We definitely didn't expect that. We've got a few new players in our team and it just gelled together and ended up well.
"I think we just played a really good passing game. Our midfield just passed the ball well and our strikers were on form."
Consistency and fitness also worked in Old Girls' favour.
"We put all our goals away, which was really important ... often you play really well and have good opportunities but you don't put away the goals," Vette said.
The focus for the team this year is on consistency, and they will have to be on form to beat Whangarei Girls' High next weekend.
"They'll be quite fit and fast, I'm expecting a good game. We've got one of their players this year [Jacinda McLeod] and her dad is coaching the Girls' High team, so there'll be a bit of a grudge match there."
Earlier, the school derby saw defending champions Whangarei Girls' High School beat Kamo High School 5-0, after leading 1-0 at half-time.
Girls' High coach Grant McLeod said his side dominated Kamo but their goalkeeper was still made to work hard.
"It was a pretty reasonable first-up effort, we've got a lot of players back from last year but also some new players too. It takes a while for us to get going and working together."
Chelsea Beasley scored the first goal from a penalty-corner play, with Jade McLeod taking a hat-trick and Becks Batten chipping in the fifth goal.
"It's a good starting point, it's more about how the girls play the game [at this time of year] than how many goals they score."
McLeod said there were still "things to work on" but the team just had to focus on their own game before they take on Old Girls next week. "They've got a bit of experience, but it's a good test for our girls to play against one of the top teams," he said.